All of us at Killer Papers would love for you to utilize our mad skills for every paper, creative writing project, book report, academic project. However, we understand that using an essay writing service is not affordable for everyone. Let me get a tissue to wipe my tears. OK, where was I? Oh yeah, sometimes you’ll be completing your own work. We get it. But what kind of professional academic writers are we if we can’t share a few insider tips with you on the most common ways people mess up their essays?
1. THEY’RE THEIR, DON’T CRY
Look at the examples below for a better understanding of the usage. When in doubt, just remember if it’s a place you’re talking about, it is always going to be there. If you could substitute they are, then the word you’re looking for is they’re. And their always indicates possession (if it belongs to someone or a group of people it is their jacket, their watch, their feelings).
“Their” is the possessive case of the pronoun they.
Ex. They left their money in the car.
“There” is an adverb that means, “in or at that place.”
Ex. There is my cell phone.
“They’re” is a contraction of the words they and are.
Ex. They’re going to the Kayne West concert tonight.
2. TYPOS
No wht I meane? There are enough free apps out there to help you out with spellchecking. Even if you have a great paper, most teachers will deduct points for typos, careless mistakes, and misuse of words. It’s a sign of rushed, sloppy, last-minute work. Save the shorthand and careless typing for texts.
3. THEN/THAN
Let’s solve this once and for all! This might be the most common error in writing!
“Then” is a reference to time. Plain and simple. If you’re telling us when it happened, you’re looking for then.
Ex. “I am going to eat and then get a shower.”
‘Than” is used when you are talking about comparisons like smaller than, bigger than, costs more than.
Ex. Dimes are worth more than pennies.
4. MISUSE OF WORDS
We know you’re smart, but irregardless regardless, we need to clarify this one! The following are commonly misused (or altogether made up words) to avoid if you want to be taken seriously. There are many more online, but here are three to get you started.
Irregardless: Not a word! Just use regardless when you want to say “without consideration” or “despite the evidence.”
Ex. Regardless of the clear facts, she refused to believe he didn’t cheat.
Accept vs. Except: Accept is used when you receive something willingly. Choose the word except when you’re showing exclusion, as in everything but…
Ex. If my boss offers me the raise I will gladly accept it.
Ex. I love everything on my plate except the green beans.
Literally: If you use this word, plan on meaning exactly what you say! Literally means actual, not figurative. For instance, you cannot say you literally died when you heard the news. If that were true, you wouldn’t be reading up on how to use the word literally! Literally!
Wrong: I was so happy I literally floated away.
Right: After getting caught in the storm, we were literally soaked from head to toe.
5. USING BIG WORDS YOU DON’T FULLY UNDERSTAND
Take it from a literary great, C.S. Lewis. He warned, “Don’t use words too big for the subject. Don’t say “infinitely” when you mean “very”; otherwise you’ll have no word left when you want to talk about something really infinite.” Basically, when you write a paper, speak in a way that sounds natural for you. If you normally say something is reckless or stupid, don’t write it as “imprudent.” Your teacher will be distracted that you spent more time on thesaurus.com than you did actually writing the essay.
6. YOU’RE VS. YOUR
You’re not alone if this is your problem! By no means does an error like this make you look like an idiot, but it will be circled in red and mark up your otherwise pretty little white paper. Your is the possessive form of you. You’re is a contraction of two separate words, you and are.
Ex. Your Instagram account has 100k followers.
Ex. You’re an expert.
7. CONFUSING WHO VS. WHOM
Who doesn’t have problems with this one, right? To make things easy, use who when referring to the subject of the sentence and whom for the object. If you can substitute the words “her” or “him”, whom should be used. If you would use “he” or “she” then the word who is best.
Wrong: Whom can answer this question?
Right: Who can answer this question?
There are many more common writing mistakes that can make you look less credible. When in doubt, just take the extra minute to look it up. These little things can make the best writers look like Homer Simpson. Now for the good news! If the whole thing is just too overwhelming, just hire one of our writing gods to help you edit and revise your work!
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